Dust Off Your Shoes And Plan A Dance Party

Dance Party Ideas From Theme To Games

Ride the wave of dancing popularity by throwing a dance party for friends and family. Every generation has their dancing craze, from the minuet to hip-hop, and swaying and moving to music is just plain fun. Take your favorite style of dance and create a theme around it. Spin the records, CDs, or hook the iPod up to speakers. The time has come to let your hair down and cut a rug at your own dance party.

Dance Party ThemeThere are so many types and styles of music and dance that can be used as a central theme for a dance party. You don’t need to limit your dance steps to the theme – no need to insist on only the salsa at a Latin mambo party – but a theme gets the juices flowing for coming up with dance-party ideas, from the food to serve to how to decorate.

Of course, regardless of the theme, a dance floor is needed. Push back the furniture to create a spacious dance floor. A refreshment table and bar can be set up in another room. Music, of course, is important: make sure the music is loud enough to dance to, but not so loud that it drowns out conversations.

A Latin Dance PartySultry, hot and graceful dances like the mambo, salsa and tango get the blood pumping and the toes tapping. A special treat for the evening, if the budget allows, is to hire a dance instructor to come and teach the entire party how to tango, cha-cha, and of course, salsa. Turn your living space into a dark Latin dance club by dimming the lights and adding fun decorations.

Bright colors such as red, green and yellow against black create a bold scene. Look for posters of Latin dancers to hang up, along with vibrant-colored crepe paper flowers in clusters of three or five. String colored lights or chili pepper lights around entrances and doorways.

For music, you can hire a DJ familiar with Latin music. If the budget allows, hire a Latin band that plays saucy salsa for dancing. If neither is possible, get the CD player or ipod going and crank out the music on good speakers.

Play a dancing game midway through the evening. It is a popular game everyone knows: the limbo. The winners of the game receive a red rose as a prize and can spend the rest of the night dancing with a red rose clenched in their teeth.

The ‘Record Hop’ Dance PartyIn the 1950s, girls wore bobby socks, poodle skirts, and blouses with Peter Pan collars. Guys wore chinos and plaid shirts with Brylcreem-slicked hair. After high school, kids headed for the soda shop for burgers, fries and shakes. Someone put a quarter in the jukebox and the music began. Before they knew it, kids were up and dancing the jitterbug to Chuck Berry and “Rock Around the Clock” with Bill Haley.

You can set the scene for a 1950s “record hop” by recreating a soda shop. Finding vinyl and chrome chairs may not be easy, since they are collectors’ items now, but improvise as best you can. Look for black vinyl records and albums that can be hung on the wall for decorations. The colors for the evening should include red and black with a dose of chrome or silver.

The best way to expand on this dance-party theme is to have everyone dress in 1950s-style clothing. Women can pull back their hair and wear a swinging ponytail. If they can find saddle shoes at a second-hand store, they’ll surely achieve the look.

At a record hop, as with other dance-party themes, it’s all about the music: Research the era and search for remixes of early rock-and-roll songs that will get everyone strolling, doing the hand jive, and memorizing the line dance called the “Madison.”

If you’re wondering what food to serve at a record hop, it has to be burgers, fries and chocolate milkshakes. Grill up burgers and keep them hot in a crockpot. Keeping French fries hot and crisp may be difficult, so you can substitute with potato chips and sour cream dip. Coke in 12-ounce bottles adds to the ambiance of the party and serves the dual purpose of vintage decoration for the refreshment table. Keep a bottle of rum at the ready for rum-and-Cokes. Search for cocktails or dessert drinks similar to chocolate milkshakes. It may be easier to have a few snacks for munching and a designated late supper of burgers and fries instead of a buffet for dance-party food.

At some point in the party, have everyone gather for a Hula Hoop contest. Winner takes all: a poster of Sandra Dee for the guys and a poster of Elvis for the girls.

A Roaring Twenties Dance PartyThink Art Deco, flappers, gangsters, and the Charleston for a wild night of dancing fun. Prohibition landed in the middle of the roaring ‘20s, forcing bars to go underground or behind locked doors. The term “speakeasy” refers to an illegal bar that served alcohol. The only way to gain entrance was to speak low through a hole in the back door and give the attendant the secret password.

Turn your home into a speakeasy with a secret password that must be spoken before entry is permitted. Place small round tables about the room and cover each in a white tablecloth with a candle and a fish bowl with a live fish for a centerpiece. Keep the lighting dim, and make sure all “guns” are checked at the door: borrow toy guns from children or pick up a few at a discount store and toss them in a basket next to the door.

Some ‘20s dance-party food ideas are deviled eggs, cabbage rolls, stuffed mushrooms with a crab-and-parmesan stuffing, and meatballs in a barbecue sauce. Use large galvanized tubs for gin, beer and ginger ale. Search for the alcoholic recipe called Bathtub Gin for a fun cocktail to serve. Long cigarette holders and martinis add ‘20s sophistication.

Guys can look for zoot suits, shoe spats and fedoras to wear. Women can go for the flapper style with fringed dresses, long strands of pearls and feathers.

The 1920s was all about jazz, so music should reflect Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin and Fanny Brice. Dancing the Charleston is a must, but don’t forget the lindy hop and the black bottom.

Get everyone on the dance floor for a Charleston contest. The winners take home the grand prize: a feather boa for the ladies and a bottle of gin for the fellas.

Dance party themes can come from almost any place. A square-dance party in an old barn with down-home country cooking would be a fun way to spend an evening. Recreate the elegance of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire with a ballroom dance. The flowing gowns for the ladies and men in tuxedos might require renting a hotel ballroom, but tripping the light fantastic with your handsome partner is well worth the extra expense. Whichever theme you choose, consider hiring a dance instructor to kick the party off and get everyone out on the floor leaping, swaying, twisting, or hopping to great music.

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